If a state has the ability to do that (enrich uranium or plutonium), that means that it is only a few months from producing nuclear weapons.
Barring exceptional circumstances and provided there is the sustained, proactive cooperation by Iraq, we should be able in the next few months to provide credible assurance that Iraq has no nuclear weapons program.
What might be considered one of the few positive aspects of 'Chernobyl's legacy' is today's global safety regime.
We are inching forward with the inspections, but we need more time, at least a few months.
We are coming to the litmus test in the next few weeks. Diplomacy is not just talking. Diplomacy has to be backed by pressure and, in extreme cases, by force.
Because if you have the fissile material, you are a few months away from the ability to develop a nuclear weapon, should you decide to do that. And that margin of security is very, very close for comfort.
But just in the past few years, we have witnessed a significant change in attitudes toward nuclear power,